Slashdot Mirror

Grymalkin writes A controversial religious freedom bill has passed the Indianapolis Senate and is now awaiting Governor Mike Pence's signature to become law. Supporters claim that this bill will protect business owners from excessive government control while opponents argue it is just a veiled attempt to allow those same business owners to deny services to individuals because of their sexual orientation. Now, Gen Con has released a statement saying this bill will influence their decision to keep the convention in Indiana. This announcement has tourism officials worried as Gen Con brings in roughly 50,000 visitors each year, contributing $50 million to the local economy. So far Gen Con's announcement has not swayed the Governor who says he is looking forward to signing the bill into law. Gen Con currently has a contract with the Indy Convention Center through 2020. No word yet as to exactly when the convention would be moved should the bill become law.

An anonymous reader writes "Sunday was the birthday of the late great Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and Futurama guest star. With the fifth edition of D&D soon to come out at Gen Con this year, Jon Peterson, author of Playing at the World, has released a new piece to answer a historical question: how was it, back in 1985, that Gary was ousted from TSR and control of D&D was taken away from him? Drawn from board meeting minutes, stock certificates, letters, and other first-hand sources, it's not a quick read or a very cheery one, but it shows how the greatest success of hobby games of the 1980s fell apart and marginalized its most famous designer."

teknoviking writes "Gen Con Indy is coming up on August 13-16th, and if you are planning on attending, especially if you have an idea you want to pitch to one (or many) of the vendors, artists, or developers at the Con, you should check out this great series of articles by writer and game designer Jess Hartley. She covers the basics of proper planning and making a good impression, and she has some practical tips about how to promote your idea, and what you should do to follow up afterward."

Heartless Gamer writes to tell us that Gen Con LLC announced late last week that they have filed for Chapter 11. This move will not affect the still profitable Gen Con Indy event which will still happen August 14-17, 2008. "This action became necessary as a result of significant unforeseen expenses associated with attempts to expand its core business to encompass externally licensed events. [...] The protections afforded by Chapter 11 will allow Gen Con to further its efforts to address its liquidity needs, preserve value for its creditors and explore strategic alternatives for the business." Evan writes to add that this is the result of LucasFilm suing GenCon.

The official GenCon website is hosting the official press release with the news: the West coast GenCon is no more. Citing 'competing shows' in the Southern California area, the RPG convention is closing up shop so that staff can focus on the Midwestern/East Coast Flagship event GenCon Indy. In an open letter from Peter Adkinson, he states how much he regrets this decision, and describes the four years of the event as well as the decision-making that led to this state of affairs. In his long discussion of the event, he downplays the attempt to merge with the IDG event and the inclusion of videogames into the GenCon formula. Though it's not listed as a root cause, the death of E3 would seem to be having a ripple effect here as well. He makes sure to point out that GenCon Indy isn't going anywhere, and that this year's 40th anniversary should be an interesting one.

The official GenCon website is hosting the official press release with the news: the West coast GenCon is no more. Citing 'competing shows' in the Southern California area, the RPG convention is closing up shop so that staff can focus on the Midwestern/East Coast Flagship event GenCon Indy. In an open letter from Peter Adkinson, he states how much he regrets this decision, and describes the four years of the event as well as the decision-making that led to this state of affairs. In his long discussion of the event, he downplays the attempt to merge with the IDG event and the inclusion of videogames into the GenCon formula. Though it's not listed as a root cause, the death of E3 would seem to be having a ripple effect here as well. He makes sure to point out that GenCon Indy isn't going anywhere, and that this year's 40th anniversary should be an interesting one.

Spoooon wrote in to mention a New York Times story on Warhammer, old skool table-top wargaming favorite. (registration required) From the article: "In a culture dominated by virtual diversions and mass marketing, Warhammer has acquired an ardent following by being tactile and mysterious, using no advertising at all. Games Workshop, the British company that makes it, has licensed two video-game versions, but it is usually played with three-dimensional figures by opponents who face each other across a real-life table." In related news, registration for GenCon Indy 2005 opened on Monday. Best four days of gaming, and all that.

Jason Scott writes "While we're celebrating 30 years of Dungeons and Dragons, Slashdot readers might as well sit back with their DVD players and enjoy a few documentaries that have recently popped up; all of them done by independent filmmakers, too! Uber Goober: The Movie calls itself 'A Film About Gamers' is a not-taking-itself-too-seriously overview of the life of RPGs and LARPs. Life With the Dice Bag, a 'Documentary about Role Playing Games and the people who play them' looks to take itself a bit more seriously as it covers the last GenCon held in Milwaukee. And finally, who can resist the pull of The Dungeons and Dragons Experience?"

Klytus writes "GamingReport.com has posted news that Microsoft plans a preview for all Gen Con attendees of their new online, web-based version of the popular board game "Settlers of Catan". Originally announced back in February, this will be the first look at Microsoft's version of Catan, which will 'debut this winter exclusively at MSN Games', and will offer attendees playable demos and unveiling of the CatanOnline website."

Costik writes "Paranoia XP, the new version of the cult tabletop RPG which first debuted in 1984, and in which a 'well-meaning but deranged Computer desperately protects the citizens of Alpha Complex, a vast underground city, from all sorts of real and imagined enemies', is done, and will appear at Gencon Indy later this month. The interesting aspect is that it was designed 'in public,' using a weblog, an online forum, and a Wiki, with enthusiastic support from the community. Fans of the game wrote text, debated rules, proofread, ran statistical analyses, and even wrote a computer simulator to test the game's paper-and-pencil rules. Allen, the game's designer, says 'We borrowed the tools and methods of open-source software development for a paper game, and it worked brilliantly.'"

Thanks to RPGDot for pointing to a Battle.net forum post revealing a wealth of new detail regarding Blizzard's upcoming PC MMO title World Of Warcraft. WoW Stratics also has screenshots and brief comments on Blizzard's showing at Gen Con in Los Angeles, including comments that "Blizzard has one thing completely, undeniably wrong: they simply don't know the definition of 'alpha'. Both Anarchy Online and WWII Online were less polished and complete three months after release than WoW is right now." WoW is due out later in 2004, with a closed Beta early next year, and PlanetWarcraft also has some hands-on impressions.

Recently, GameSpy's Andrew Bub caught up with Vivendi Univeral's Chris Taylor (of Fallout and Starfleet Command) at GenCon to talk about their Middle Earth Online MMORPG which is in the works. A lot of ground is covered, from which parts of middle earth will be in the game, to how they manage to keep track of all of Tolkien's lore, to Tom Bombadil's poetry.

Thanks to GameZone for their interview with Brian 'Psychochild' Green of Near Death Studios, talking about their resurrection of the 3D graphical MMORPG for PC, Meridian 59, which first launched in 1996, a year before even Ultima Online. Some of the original developers bought the property back from 3DO in 2001, and are "unveiling a new graphics engine" at this year's GenCon. According to Brian, "We think that Meridian 59 still has a lot to offer online RPG fans with it's innovative gameplay, interesting character advancement, well-balanced PvP, and great communication tools. Unfortunately, the graphical presentation gets in the way of people appreciating the game."